“There you are. Right, take them home,” Anne instructed hurriedly.
“We are home,” I replied.
“Yeah, if you want to call this a home, then sure, stay! In any case, there’s no time for arguments. Come with me,” Jojo answered. She then turned to Robbie.
“Robs, the wormhole,” she said plainly.
“Wormhole? What’s that?” I asked with attitude.
“Just wait and see,” Jojo impatiently responded.
Robbie placed his hands onto my wall and closed his eyes. I watched eagerly as a circular, hollow space began forming around his palms. It grew larger until finally, Robbie brought his hands back down to his sides. Jaden, Jade and I stared in amazement at the miraculous, glowing white hole that stared at us as the spectrums of dark and bright light reflected off of our faces.
“Right, in we go, chaps,” Tantrus answered rather cheerfully.
“You don’t expect us to go through that, do you?” Jade asked frightfully. Robbie merely groaned and rolled his head around his neck exasperatedly, tired of all our complaints and excessive whining.
“Well, if you’re not going first, I will,” he said plainly. He walked through the wormhole and was absorbed into it. I could see nothing beyond.
“Jaden, follow,” mum ordered.
Jaden gulped and walked slowly towards the wormhole that so eerily stared us in the face. He stopped just in front of it and looked at it in absolute dread. I slowly crept up behind him and pushed him in. Jaden inhaled a short breath as his heart stopped before falling through. I chuckled, not knowing Jade was standing right behind me. I turned around and looked at her with narrowed eyes. Jade smiled cheekily.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
CHAPTER 5.
Vernaesce
The place was forsaken for sure. But at least Robbie and Jaden were there with me. Everything was covered by murk. There wasn’t a single thing I saw that wasn’t torn apart. Everything that surrounded me was in their utmost obliterated states they could be in.
The buildings, the ground and the clouds. The sky – well, that was just a void; an empty, deserted and useless space above us with a bleak and forlorn sun. There were broken and deteriorated buildings with shattered windows everywhere. The domain looked like a bad nuclear war mixed with a horrible zombie apocalypse had unfortunately taken place there at the same time. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to witness. In its shortest terms, this place looked like the home of every and any nightmare we humans ever dreamed of – although, I was beginning to question what I was now. There was silence here, like a graveyard – and I found the irony side-splittingly hilarious because this place might have as well been one. But all I could hear was my heart faintly beating in my chest. The place just seemed so hopeless, like a fog corrupted in evil was saturating the area with its presence. The bridge behind me had collapsed dreadfully, the ponds had blackened to a liquid so detestably macabre that the mere thought of ingesting it almost brought me to my knees to vomit. The rubble went on for miles and the half-standing buildings (or what was left of them at least) resembled secret entrances to hell. The darkness within them was something I would forever and ever steer clear from. Goosebumps scaled all over my body spine-chillingly.
“Go on, Jade,” Jojo encouraged.
“Can we both go in at the same time? Because I’m terrified.”
“I wish we could, but we can’t. Only one person may go in at a time. Now, please hurry! We’re running out of time.”
Jade took a deep breath and plucked up some courage. She slowly walked towards the wormhole without looking back, striding through and traversing dimensions. She disappeared and reappeared on the other side near Robbie, Jaden and me and was followed shortly by Jojo and her father crossing through simultaneously.
“Hey! I thought you said you could only go in one at a time.” Jojo chuckled like the maniac she secretly was.
“Well…um…I lied,” Jojo bantered. “I had to get you in one way or another.”
Jade turned her back to Jojo and confronted the post-apocalyptic hell ahead. Mum was the last to exit our house and to come through the wormhole. Robbie walked over to his portal and spread his hand out in the centre of it. I surveyed keenly as the core of his palm glowed a luminous white, spreading to all corners of his hand. The softest crystal sound was emitted from the light he projected but was barely audible. I only did because the area was so dauntingly quiet. As Robbie’s hand intensified in colour and light, the wormhole shrunk more and more until it finally closed. His hand dimmed to its original complexion again.
“Hey, if you’re Robbie and you’re – you know – from my dream, where’s that girl?” I asked inquisitively.
“Oh, Tammy?” he answered whilst walking towards the rest of us. “Well, she’s –”
“Robbie, do you have a coin on you?” interrupted Tantrus.
“Just a sec,” Robbie said, reaching into his pocket to reveal a polished-surfaced, silver coin. On one side it had a “V” which was overlapped with two swords and on the other side was the coin’s value, beautifully embossed in the precious metal. I saw this as Robbie tossed it repeatedly in his palm.
“Here you go.” Robbie handed it to Tantrus.
“Right, now, all of you, back away onto the pavement,” he commanded, pushing us back.
The adults – mum, Anne and Tantrus – were all in front whilst the rest of us remained behind. Mum was facing forward but she whispered something to my siblings and me: “whatever you do, keep completely still.”
“Why?” Jade whispered back, slightly louder.
“Just do it,” mum answered calmly.
Tantrus was reciting something but my attention was divided. Instead of being completely immobile as my mother had instructed, I was facing another direction. I looked into the distance at the end of the road where the fog seemed to lead into oblivion.
Then, it may have just have been my traumatised imagination, but I knew I saw a figure in the murk. I could only see the person’s silhouette, but from what I saw it was as tall as me and had either shoulder-length hair or longer – I couldn’t tell. That’s all I could identify. However, I was very able to tell that the person was looking directly at me; whilst folding its arms it turned around and headed away into the fog. I shook my head, trying to snap out of my distraction and looked away.
“Reveal to us the hidden world covered and protected by this realm of shadows,” Tantrus mumbled, pressing the coin against his mouth.
Suddenly, before I knew it, the sky ripped open with vehement colour. It began renewing itself and the desolate place I was surrounded with became a spontaneous world. Hell rapidly became heaven in the most remarkable transformation of light and wind. The void of the sky began to dwindle as light broke through from the sun whilst the monuments reconstructed themselves. I was out of words; astonished by what I perceived. I couldn’t think of anything that I had ever encountered more remarkable than this.
The sky was the most beautiful piece of art I had ever beheld. It seemed too awe-inspiring to be real. I was probably dreaming – maybe nothing of this was real. The heavens were a burst of colours that were combined together, seeming, from the way they were set, to have either been dusk or dawn: rays of violet stretched across, merging with the shades of cyan blue, indigo and azure. From there, the amber, topaz and orange were cleverly fused with the shades of blue. Finally, everything was outlined with a bright fuchsia. What I couldn’t seem to be able to tear my eyes off of were the outlines of the colossal planets hung in this painting of a sky, along with what seemed to be two, half-glowing moons.
The colours were blending in together just like a spectacular work of pastel by an artist of wonders. There was no sun to be found at the moment, but there were stars. Vast constellations pinpricked into the coat of many colours up above.
We were surrounded with people walking up and down about their daily business, unmoved by the glory and splendour that captured my soul. It was marvellous. The
re were real-life fire breathers, breathing out fire from their own throats which would glow red every time they did. People darted through the atmosphere whilst gliding on the air – especially children, who seemed to be racing one another and playing all sorts of unusual games. Some women were influencing immense loads of water with their hands, using them to wash clothes manually, and when they were done, withdrew all the water with gentle hand movements.
Children were running on fields and people were sprouting abnormally large trees to sit beneath. There were, what looked like, endless fields of lavender. Some people were just appearing and disappearing everywhere, just like Jojo and her family, leaving behind trails of bright green embers.
There were girls and boys on roofs practising sword work and you could hear blacksmiths sharpening tools in the distance as well as the violent whirring of the blades. I suddenly began to admire this natural entertainment, walking towards what felt like the heart of this place.
“Where are we? It’s beautiful,” Jade exclaimed.
“Welcome to Vernaesce, guys,” mum responded.
“Beg your pardon? Ver…I’m sorry, what?” Jaden asked cockily.
“Vernaesce,” Mum answered with an exasperated sigh.
“Gesundheit,” Jaden and I responded arrogantly. Mum smacked us both on the back of our heads.
“It’s funny how it can look so magnificent here. This is pretty much one of the poorest areas. You should see the actual cities. I tell you they…are…awesome. This is a rural village just off the coast of the Hydrotte region,” Jojo said as we walked further.
“Here we are. Right, stay close,” Tantrus said as we crossed the street. A sudden herd of horses ran before us, almost skimming against our faces, though nobody else around found it a problem.
“OI, WATCH IT!” Tantrus yelled. “Bloody Shifftocastans,” he mumbled to himself.
We came to a halt at a red shack. We climbed the three stone steps before it and Tantrus opened the glass door with silver and red framing. The bell rang as we stepped in; Jaden, Jade and I all eagerly observing the establishment.
A long wooden table separated us from the brick wall at the back. I had a look at a birdcage in the far corner, empty but containing bird seeds that mysteriously disappeared on their own with a strange pecking sound. We walked around the table and were now at the far end of the room.
“Why have we stopped at a wall?” I asked intolerantly.
“So impatient,” mum muttered underneath her breath, rolling her eyes and shaking her head out of sheer exasperation.
“Just calm down and wait,” she said with a stressful look in her eyes.
“Don’t worry. You’ll soon get used to everything,” Anne reassured with a warm smile and a pat on my shoulder. Robbie nudged himself to the front, coming face-to-face with the front wall.
“Get used to what?” I asked, but I couldn’t have been answered. Everyone’s attention was on Robbie’s hand, which he was gently scraping against the wall in an arched movement forwards and backwards. Robbie’s eyes then lightened to a brilliant, shimmering gold and as his hand was firmly pressed against the wall, the bricks began to crack and thickly melt. They gradually started to ooze to the floor and slowly climb back up on the side of the wall, carving up into a long arch that descended into an underground tunnel. In the process, Robbie’s hand ended up against mid-air. The bricks re-solidified, now seeming as if they had naturally been shaped and constructed in that shape of a passageway leading underneath the building. The process ended with Robbie’s eyes dimming down to their natural hazel-hinted brown. I. Was. Astonished.
“Whoa!” Jaden flinched.
The not so many steps we descended on were narrowed. Once we were underground, Robbie merely touched the wall. With his eyes lightening to hazel again and his hand glowing white, the tunnel’s bricks melted behind us and climbed up to seal itself into a wall. Robbie took a long hard blink after the passageway was hidden and his eyes dimmed again.
Both my left and right hand sides led to unseen places. They looked like tunnels, but their depths were gates to nothingness; pure darkness. Though, they did have a series of light bulbs, stretching to their ends. We faced a large, dense, silver metallic door with thick black hinges whose surface was reflective and smooth.
“You fixed the door?” mum asked as we looked at it uninterruptedly.
“Mm-hm,” Robbie responded plainly. “Just this morning.”
Tantrus stretched out his hand in an attempt to knock, but the door swung open by itself to reveal a man, sitting around an averagely large, circular glass table with a girl. She was reading a book aloud to the man whilst he tutored her. He had his back to us but his right elbow was lightly resting on his armrest with his hand gently raised.
“Good evening, all,” Tantrus said, rather enthusiastically.
“Okay, Tamzine. Our lesson is at an end. Now, keep reading on the psychic linkages between the caster of the vision and the intended projection and keep practising to establish a further connection. It’ll help you with more efficient mind-mapping. Time to meet the rookies,” Mr Tarchall finished undertone with a gentle wink. Tammy sniggered. Mr Tarchall turned around and greeted Tantrus.
“Good evening, Tantrus, Anne, Angelina,” he casually greeted in a deep, husky voice. Mr Tarchall was a tall, husky man with a head full of gelled back, mahogany brown hair. His face was as regal as his dressing; he wasn’t severely aged, but one could tell he was older than most. Yet, he still had a youthful look about him which was probably due to his well-groomed brown beard. His eyes seemed to be of the same piercing glacial blue as mum’s which really made me feel like running into a corner and hiding – this was, after all, the first time I was ever meeting him. He was also quite tall; a tad taller than Jaden and me…and unfortunately, that was saying something.
“Hi, Nicholas,” Anne said responsively, getting herself comfortable in one of the glass chairs. “Why does Tantrus always address you as ‘Mr Tarchall’?”
“I suppose he’s intimidated by me,” the older man jested. Mum strode over to this tall man and hugged him.
“Hiya, dad,” she said to him, lightly pecking him on the cheek. Ah, so that’s why their eyes were uncannily similar.
“Dad?” Jaden, Jade and I exclaimed, rather stumped.
“Mum, I though your parents were dead?” Jade asked, rather stunned.
“Well, my mother is, but I’ve still got my father,” she replied calmly.
“So, I suppose you’d all be my grandchildren. Jade, you look more like your mother than I thought. The boys resemble their father more. Rather curious how one twin inherited blonde hair –?”
“Well, my hair’s black now,” Jaden interrupted rhetorically, with the sound of nostalgic tears in his throat for the longing of his previous blond hair – the idiot.
“Of course it is. Okay, enough chitchat!” my apparent ‘grandfather’ stated, already finding Jaden profoundly boring. We might just get along.
“We can share pasts later but I believe we have serious official business to attend to,” he added.
“Actually, it’s more of an explanation,” Jaden and I responded simultaneously. Jade hit us both on the backs of our heads.
“Stop trying to be a pair of smart-arses,” she snarled to us. We sat down, Jade sitting next to Tammy.
“You must be Tammy?” she cautiously approached.
“Yes, nice to meet you,” she replied with her large, warm and welcoming amethyst eyes.
“I’m Jade,” she introduced herself calmly. Tammy suddenly grew a warm grin. “I know.”
“Okay, so let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way –”
“That this is a bunch of twaddle and I would like my old life back? Yeah, I know,” I disturbed cheekily. I may have sounded as if this was a very light-hearted atmosphere, but doing so seemed to be the only thing that I could resolve to in a time of distress. Mum and Jade both stretched over and hit me behind my head again. It would be a miracle
if my scalp wasn’t bruised by the time we were done with the meeting – or whatever it was. We were all listening attentively to Mr Tarchall. Mum’s dad. I mean granddad…
It was an awkward situation.
“First of all, as cliché as this will sound, none of us in this room are really human – including you three. We are, obviously, humanoid; however.”
Ab-so-lute twaddle. I sat upright in my chair; definitely fervent.
“We’re aliens?” Jade asked dully.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it being an alien. I would just call it – not being from Earth,” granddad suggested.
“So, ALIEN!” us teens all exclaimed aloud.
“Okay, okay – it’s your generation,” granddad said defensively.
“I don’t want to be an alien. With the tentacles and all –” Jaden said, paranoid and fretful. Jade looked at him as if he were a baby.
“Grow up, Jaden! Better be an alien than a human. Think about all those movies – it’s always better to be the stronger ones,” my sister harshly responded.
“Yes, but the humans always find a way to kill us at the end.”
“But that’s just a Hollywood dream! It’ll never happen. We’ve got stronger guns and airships, remember? They just always win because there’s always an intense, bad-ass of a soldier who attempts to do something crazy to save mankind. Read my lips, little mouse: it-will-never-happen. Cowards,” Jade went on.
“Stop this alien thing; we are not aliens! Well, yes, technically but not quite,” mum cut in out of frustration.
“But, mum, I don’t get it; what does any of this have to do with –” I stopped and slammed my head on the table whilst groaning loudly.
“What’s wrong?” mum asked worriedly.
“My hands, they feel like they’re on fire again!” I said. I knocked my head on the table, trying to distract my nerves from the burning sensation.
Suddenly, I noticed the three holes on my palms were rearranging themselves, all forming the shape of a triangle and emitting thin smoke. I watched as the black vapour swirled and twisted into the air. I then looked at my fingers. Five holes – one for each finger – were being burnt into existence, bringing along a searing pain.
Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) Page 10